Allan Cohen, who was born and raised in New York, didn’t set out to work in St. Louis television for over 30 years. With an electrical engineering degree, he was solving problems with satellite Doplar navigation systems on submarines in the early 70’s in New York. In 1974, he earned a master’s degree in management and responded to a want ad for a financial analyst at CBS.
Full Bio2015 Hall of Fame
1915 – 1985
On April 28th, 1959, a new television station signed on the air with its debut broadcast of the St. Louis Cardinals versus the Cincinnati Reds. After a ten-year struggle with four competing groups, Harold Koplar’s tenacity paid off, and KPLR-TV was born.
Harold Koplar (or “HK” as he was affectionately known) was a true visionary, and KPLR embodied his vision at its best.
Clyde Graves Lear was born in 1944 in Jefferson City, where he was raised and attended high school. After high school, Lear went to Central Methodist College in Fayette to become a dentist for two reasons: Central Methodist had a good record for placing students in dental schools, and more importantly, his girlfriend, Sue, was going there.
At Central Methodist, Lear joined the staff of KMOE,
(1936 – 2013)
Fred White was born in 1936 and was raised in Homer, Illinois. He attended Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. His broadcasting career began at WTTY in Danville, Illinois. After moving to Hastings, Nebraska, White settled in at WIBW in Topeka in 1966, where he did both radio and TV work. Kansas State University sports were part of his duties. Fred became the voice of K-State athletics in 1967,
